A Minecraft Taker
by Void of Shining Darkness
Summary: For once, everything seems to be going great for Max... Except for the fact that she now has to deal with her father, who is convinced that she needs to learn manners. And Wither is convinced that Charlie can just go fall off the Max-Fort-of-Safety. And Mods are still running rampant across the world, and All is still irritating Max, so maybe things aren't so great. (Sequel to AMM)
1. Sorry?

**I ran out of room in the description, so know that AMM is "A Minecraft Mod". If you haven't read the series, and you want to suffer through the horrid writing, then go read "A Minecraft History".**

 **Now that that's done; here, have a story.**

* * *

"-And Uncle always tried to marry me off," Max told her father, chuckling. She, Charlie, and Wither were in her tree-house, just sitting around. It had been a few weeks since the End adventure, and no one had been able to find Steve. Max worried over the Minecrafter, and hoped that it had actually been Steve she turned immortal, and not something that was possessing him. She was still ticked at All, who kept trying to apologize. She felt that she wouldn't be able to stay mad at It for much longer, though, much to her dismay. She was getting soft.

Charlie snorted, almost dropping his tea in his amusement. "That's Barcubus alright. He's so old fashioned. How'd you manage to evade him?"

"I threw mud at everyone's faces," Max recalled, grinning. To the left of her, Wither laughed, having no doubt that His easily angered friend would do such a thing.

Charlie raised an eyebrow at her but laughed anyway. When it died down he asked, shaking his head in amusement, "How'd the villagers ever survive you?"

Max shrugged. "By running away?" she suggested, causing them all to begin laughing again.

"How's your mother doing, by the way?" Charlie asked. "I haven't seen her yet."

Max hesitated, startled by the question. She took a sip of her tea to stall for time, trying to think of a way to say it without making Charlie feel absolutely horrible. Unfortunately, making people feel horrible was something Max was really good at, and so her answer was quite blunt. "Ender snapped her neck and drank her blood."

Charlie froze. "W-what?"

"Exactly what I said," Max said causally, hoping that somehow by being calm would she could keep her father from freaking out. "Ender murdered her and used her blood to regain Her power. Mom's dead. Gone forever. Bye bye. Poof. Deceased."

Abruptly, Charlie stood and slapped Max across the face. Her hand shot up to where he hit her, more startled than hurt, and looked at him with wide eyes. "Don't you _ever_ talk about her with such disrespect again, understand?" he hissed at her. She nodded mutely, still surprised. Wither stood to attack Charlie, expression angry, but Max held out a hand to stop Him and He grumpily sat back down. Charlie turned away from Max, and walked away, putting a hand to his face to hide the tears that were inevitably trailing down his cheeks at this news. Okay, so maybe acting casual wasn't the best idea Max has ever had.

 _Definitely not the best. I mean, seriously, how'd you expect the guy to react?_

"Shut up, All," Max replied quietly so Charlie wouldn't hear. Though she had explained the thing about being an Akroatis and how that made her able to hear the universe (it took a while for him to believe her on that), he was still quite uncomfortable when she seemingly talked to herself.

 _No._

Max sighed in annoyance, her face stinging from the hit. "Then go away."

 _Nope!_ It sounded too cheerful. _Not when you're being an idiot and so amusing._

Max's eye twitched involuntarily, irritation clear. "Leave me alone, All."

 _But I don't want to._

"Too bad."

 _You can't make me leave._

"Wanna bet?"

 _Oooh. What are you gonna do, little girl? Wave your sword around and whine about your problems?_

"All, your evil self is annoying me."

 _Ha! Telling on Me to Myself? Pfft. Lame._  
There was the sound of a sigh from one of the other versions. **Just leave her alone before you make her mad at Me again.**  
 _Nope! Personally, I enjoy it when she's mad. Everything becomes so exciting.  
_ **For You, maybe, for Me, not so much. Now shoo. Go away.** _  
_ _No! You can't make me!_

Max grumbled under her breath at All bickering with Itself, frustrated that she had just made it worse. She decided to simply ignore It for the time being, standing from her chair to go apologize to her father, despite the blow to her pride that would cause.

 _What? Apologize? No way! Don't do that!_

"And why not?" Max questioned, walking towards her dad.

 _Because only the weak apologize! And you, Max, are not weak... most of the time._

"Gee, thanks," Max said sarcastically.

 _You're welcome. Now turn around, sit, and leave him alone._

Max narrowed her eyes. "Don't tell me what to do." Then, before All could say anything else, she marched up to Charlie, spun him around, and briskly said, "I'm sorry." Okay, she wasn't good at apologizing, either.

Charlie blinked at her, surprised. He then scowled at the tone she used. "What?"

 _Noooooooooooooooooo,_ All whined, upset she actually apologized.  
 **Oh, shut up.  
** _Noooooooooooooooooo._

Max winced at how loud the evil All was being. "I said I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so insensitive."

 _Max! Stop it! He's not worth even a glance! Stop apologi-_

"Shut up!" Max roared at the voice in her head, startling Charlie. "All, I swear, if You say another word, I'm going to rip You apart!"

All just snickered at her reaction, but decided to bug her later, and to be annoying in some other ways. Every two seconds, gravity would stop and start working. Colours randomly changed, and Max spotted Wither in the background turning pink, while Charlie's hair turned green. And water could be seen changing into other unidentifiable liquids.

Then, everything stopped.

 **Honestly, You're irritating even Me, now,** All grumbled to Itself. **Shoo.** Though it was hard to tell without facial features to go by, it sounded like the evil All just blew a raspberry at Itself. At least, Max hoped it was a raspberry.

"D-does that happen often?" Charlie asked, eyes wide, current sorrow forgotten for the moment.

"Not really," Max said. "But don't worry. All's just decided to annoy me, as always."

"Th-that was..."

"All," Max confirmed. "The one and only."

 **Well, technically I'm One. But My versions certainly don't make it seem so.**

"All. Shush."

 **Yeesh. Fine.**

"Does It... talk to you, often?" Charlie asked, a bit bewildered by the thought, though Max had already told him of the situation. It seemed that he was still having trouble accepting that.

Max nodded. "And It doesn't know when to shut up. Actually..." She perked up slightly when she remembered something All had said a while back. Yes! A subject changer to distract him! "A while ago, All said that you knew what was going on because It brought you through time to now and somehow you managed to steal some of Its knowledge."

 **I did not say that.**

"Shut up, All. That was a basic summary."

Charlie was just staring at her. "Oh, dear Notch, my daughter is insane."

* * *

 **I have _finally_ returned to the land of Minecraft fanfiction! Did'ya miss me? ...No? Alrighty, then.**

 **Shorter chapter than the ones I've done for AMM, but I got impatient, and you got a short chapter and the beginning to a new story! So, yay!**

 **...**

 **Don't hate me?**


	2. Weirdness

Max blinked at Charlie, feeling oddly hurt by his words. All burst out laughing, most likely the evil one doing so.

 _O-oh! That's so -haha- awe-pfft-awesome! Max! Why didn't you tell me your dad is so -heheh- hilarious?_  
 **Leave her alone. Honestly, can you get any more immature?**  
 _Sure can!_

Suddenly, Wither was wearing nothing but a diaper, and not looking happy about it at all; Charlie had his thumb stuck in his mouth, also not looking happy; and Max was now standing in a crib, least happiest of them all. "All..." she growled threateningly.

All was too busy laughing at her to make any response.

Max scowled, stepping out of the baby crib. Charlie was trying to yank his thumb out of his mouth, but it was stuck, and so he just looked ridiculous. Wither was very embarrassed by His own situation, throwing out curses as He tried -and failed- to change His clothes back. Even though Max was extremely irritated with All, poor Wither was hilarious, and she may never get an opportunity like this again. "Now, now, Wither," she scolded lightly, a grin evident on her face. "Babies shouldn't say such bad words."

He glared at her furiously. "Shove your head," He grumbled at her. Charlie was extremely confused as to how that was an insult, it clear on his face.

"Short for 'shove your head into lava'," Max proudly explained to her father, grinning at Wither's frustration. "I came up with that one." Charlie gave her a look that Max couldn't interpret and she simply blinked at him.

Irritated, Charlie said, "Oo undnt un uo thith sears." Unfortunately, his thumb was still in his mouth, which made him pretty much impossible to understand. Since words he couldn't use, he gave Max a scolding light smack upside the head to let her know his disapproval.

She furrowed her brow at him, confused. What was wrong with coming up with swears? If it was bad, then she was probably in a lot of trouble. ...If she actually told her father of all the swears she had come up with, which she wasn't going to do.

Wither finally managed to change His clothes back, giving a cheer in triumph. And then All changed them into a bright pink onesie, embarrassing Him further. Still amused by Wither's irritation, but pitying Him, Max said, "All, stop messing around."

 _Oh, come on! It's hilarious! Admit it._

Max sighed, as though her next words were a heavy burden, "Yes, alright. It's one of the funniest things I've ever seen. But let Wither change His clothes, and... Charlie take his thumb out of his mouth." Max hesitated on Charlie's name. She was still unused to having family, and calling someone by a name that was not their own was also something she wasn't used to, and so she often switched between calling him "Dad" and "Charlie".

 _No._

"You really like using that word, don't you?"

 _No._  
 **Shoo.** _  
 _No.__  
 ** _Go away._**  
 _No._  
 **You're being irritating.**  
 _Yep._

As All bickered with Itself, one of Its other versions fixed what the evil one had done. Charlie quickly yanked his thumb from his mouth and hid it behind his back so it would be harder for it to replace itself if All felt the need to be annoying again. Wither swiftly put His clothes on, using His magic God powers so He wouldn't actually need to get undressed.

"Did that...Did that actually just happen?" Charlie asked, completely befuddled.

"Yes," everyone replied at once, including the evil version of All, who sounded too gleeful at his confusion.

"I-I'm..." Charlie didn't seem to know how to handle this situation. His eyes locked on the darkening sky, and he said, finding something to say, "I'm going to bed. I swear to Notch, Max, if you let All do that again, I'll-"

"Don't swear to Notch," Max interrupted him. "I've met the guy. He's a cow-faced chicken." Charlie gave her a scolding look and Max quickly added, "A really nice cow-faced chicken... I'll stop digging myself into deeper trouble. I won't let All do weird stuff again."

 _Awww..._

"But only until he's not paying attention," Max whispered so All could hear, wincing slightly at the great disappointment she felt from All, both from the weird-emotions bond thing, and All's tone of voice.

All cheered up quiet a bit at Max's words, and Max would've sworn she heard it cheer, _Yay!_ But maybe it was simply her imagination. It was difficult to tell what was imagination and what was All, sometimes.

Charlie gave her a searching look, trying to see if he could find out whether or not she was lying. He apparently deemed her words true, and turned to the hut Max had built him.

Max glanced at Wither, suddenly remembering the floor she still needed to finish building for Him. She opened her mouth to tell Him where she would be if He needed her, but found herself being herded to her own space before a word could leave her lips. "Hey!" she protested.

 _"You need sleep, not to build. Time for that tomorrow,"_ He replied, nudging her through the door and towards the alcove that still housed her bed.

"But-"

He interrupted her next protest. _"No."_

Max glowered at Him when He lightly pushed her onto her bed. He ignored her and left, closing the door solidly behind Him. Knowing Him, He would probably stay awake for a while just to make sure Max slept. She huffed in irritation, then lay down to sleep, grumbling to herself about how she would be fine losing _one_ night of sleep. But _nooo_! All forbid she actually feel tired in the slightest!

Max fell asleep, feeling less irritated in her dreams, which consisted of dancing dark-blue bunnies and Kreaya singing a badly written poem. Wither appeared in the dream, sporting a bright-pink hat and seeming pleased with Himself for turning all water to lava.

When Max awoke she felt cheerful and eager for a relaxing day of getting to know her father. Unfortunately, it seemed that there were other things that needed her attention more than her father and a nice cup of tea. Specifically the hoard of Mods surrounding her home.

* * *

 **I'd say I'm sorry for the cliffhanger, but I'm really not. I'm more sorry for the again short chapter. But I lost my plot and had to write it out from memory, and added all sorts of new things, then wrote this while drawing a cyborg picture, and I really just couldn't find a better spot to stop it before my hands got tired. Plus, I just wanted another chapter out. Heh...**

 **Actually! Great idea, here:**

 **What would you wonderous readers prefer: Shorter chapters that come out more often, or longer chapters that come out less often and have actually been proof-read? I would _really_ love an answer to that question. Just leave what you think I should do in a review (or PM, if you have an account and would rather do that), or even come up with a better solution if you have an idea.  
**

 **So, I think that's All (hehe, puns) for now- except of course the review replies!**

AlliyahTheAuthor:

 **Indeed it is! :D  
** **Really, poor Charlie must be so confused. XD Glad He's adorable in his protectiveness and not creepy. XD Adorable was what I was going for, but creepy would also work ( _All_ the puns!).  
**

NotReallyAName:

 **:D Yes! No hate gained! ...Unless you're doing a plot-twist on me and trying to drown me in that love and good feelings! :O  
Poor Charlie not only has to put up with the one-sided phone call, he has to put up with having so many things be different, and has to believe that the person on the other side of the phone call is the universe Itself, so really, poor Charlie.  
Just don't tell Max you pity her, I don't think she would be very happy about that. XD Otherwise, pity all you want!  
The chapter was pretty playful, good way to describe it. A great way to set up this new story, in my opinion. :D  
**

* * *

 **(Gagh, text faces! So many text faces! And exclamation marks! Run for your lives!-)  
**

 **(-after you've left a review of course ;D ...It's another one! Flee!)**


	3. Ow

Max blinked at the sight of all the Mods, moving over to Wither, who was peering down at them from the edge of the wooden platform. The Mods certainly weren't being dormant; actually, they were fighting amongst themselves. Ripping and tearing and breaking and eating. Some even set their opponents on fire. Max shuddered, reminded of the battle she had fought in when she was fourteen. Wither glanced at her, something unreadable in his expression, then it disappeared and He smiled at her in greeting. _"Good morning."_

"I don't see how this could be considered 'good'," Max snorted, gesturing to the horde and plopping down next to her friend.

He laughed, _"They're ripping each other apart, not us. Isn't that good?"_ He held out a piece of bread, likely knowing that chowing down on meat with such a gory view would quickly cause Max to lose her appetite. Or maybe He just didn't have any meat on hand. It was hard to tell with Him, sometimes.

"It'd be better if they weren't ripping each other apart. I'd like it even more if they weren't here at all," Max answered, taking the offered bread and beginning to eat.

 _"Want me to deal with it?"_ He asked her, tilting His head to the side slightly in an almost hopeful way.

Max eyed Him distrustfully. "Are you going to turn them all inside out and dump them in the ocean for the squids to finish them off?"

Wither's swirling grey eyes took on a cheerful light; a mischievous cheerful light. _"I hadn't thought of that. Thanks, Max!"_

"No," Max told Him sternly, giving Him a frown. He sighed in defeat.

 _"Fine. You're no fun."_

"I'm fun, I just don't like waking up to a horde of Mods and my best friend threatening to turn them inside out and make me look at their squishy guts."

 _"I never sa-"_

"Doesn't matter. Now, if you don't mind, use your weird magic powers to get rid of them."

 _"Why don't you ask the everything that has a thing for babies to do it for you?"_

"All doesn't have a thing for babies. And It can be grumpy in the mornings-"

 _Of course I am. You would be too if you had to pull the sun over the horizon while pulling the moon under the horizon,_ All interrupted irritably. _At the same time! I get that I'm awesome and all powerful, but sometimes it just makes Me want to rip Myself in two._

"-Don't do that, All. And technically, Wither, you're still are a baby. You're how old now? Four?" Max guessed.

 _"Almost five,"_ Wither said, His tone holding hint of a pout. _"But I'm a God! We age differently than Minecrafters."_

"Oh, really?"

 _"Yes, really."_

Max gave a small snort of amusement. "Alright, then. Well, if you're old enough to not wear diapers and onesies, you're old enough to get rid of that horde."

Wither stuck his tongue out at her, but stood. _"Fine. You're so demanding."_ With that, He leapt of the ledge and into the horde of Mods, landing on a squishy looking one that almost ate Him immediately.

"Is anything ever normal with you, kid?" Charlie's voice asked from behind Max. He sat down beside her and she tore her gaze away from Wither cheerfully killing a two Mods by stuffing one down the other's throat. She ignored All cheering Its child on in the background.

 _Yeah! Murder it! Kill it! Stick its face where no face should ever go! Woot!_

Max wrote down Wither's cheerful violence as being All's fault. The universe was in quite the evil mood, it must've been leaking not only to Max, but to her friend, too.

"Sometimes," Max answered, looking at him.

Charlie gave a sigh, "I'm sorry about my behaviour, everything's just so strange, now, and I just can't figure anything out. My whole life has ended and been replaced with something strange. My wife is dead, my unborn child an Akroatis- heck, there was a _war_ that I missed!"

"It wasn't very fun. Short, but definitely not fun," Max told him. "And I forgive you. All has been in a bratty mood lately, and so I also have een kinda bratty. Sorry."

 ** _I'm not bratty.  
_ Don't lie, Max. **  
_Yeah! Yeah! Kill it! Murder! Yes! Shove that tail down its throat! Hahahahahahaha!_

Max ignored the fact that evil All was still cheering on Wither's murder of the Mods. "Shut up, All. You are too bratty, or simply irritating. Maybe both."

 _ **Irritating, that I can see..  
**_ _ **I**_ **' _m_ not irritating. My part of the existence is all about not being irritating, what with being on the side of good and all.**  
 _Good or pompous? I don't really see the difference- YES! You are an amazing child! Haha! Spear it with its own horns! Yes!_

"All. Shut up. Didn't I just say that?"

 _Yes you did- HAHAHAHA! That looked so very painful!_

Charlie was looking weirdly at Max again. He shook his head as though to clear it. "Anyway, how good are you with a sword?"

Max blinked at him for the abrupt change in subject. "Er..."

"I ask because I'm your father and it's my job to make sure you're safe. What if you're cut off from all these things protecting you?" he asked.

"...All can't be cut off, but It doesn't protect me!" Max denied, her pride hurt at the thought of having to be protected.

"Prove it to me," Charlie challenged, he stood and offered her a hand to help her up, which she didn't take.

"Fine, I will!" Max declared, standing on her own.

"And you can't use that fancy universe sword of yours," Charlie told her as she moved to grab Kreaya.

"But I don't have another sword," Max said, pausing and turning to him.

"You won't always have a sword, if you continue to get yourself in so much trouble," he told her, then lunged, pulling out a wooden sword from his belt. A moment later, he had Max's arms pressed to the ground with his knee keeping her back bent upwards, in a completely defenseless position. Max was startled by how quickly he had taken her down; she was used to having the tug of Kreaya guide her in battle. "Pathetic," he said, frowning as he released her.

Max quickly sprang away from him, glaring. "That's not fair! I don't have a weapon!"

"Those who truly wish to hurt you won't play fair," he answered. "And if you don't have a weapon, _make_ something a weapon. Your hands, your feet, any item you have on you has the potential to hurt your attacker. Honestly, who's been teaching you to fight?"

"I teach myself," Max snapped, irritated that he was being so harsh on her her first time fighting without a sword. Without Kreaya.

"Well, there's your problem," he tsked. "From now on, you're not going to use that magical fancy-shmancy sword until you know how to fight without it."

"You can't do that!"

"Yes, I can. I'm your father. Universe thing, please make it that Max cannot use that sword until I say."

 _Pfft. This is hilarious. Alright, Max's dad thing. Away you go, Kreaya!_ All was still cheering on Wither while saying this, creating an odd echo effect in Max's head, but she wasn't paying attention to that, at the moment.

"Wait, no!" she yelped as Kreaya completely disappeared. Charlie looked surprised that his request was honoured, but also pleased. "You traitor!"

 _ **Charles is right, Max. You need to learn how to fight without my help. It's for your own safety.**_

"I don't like You," Max grumbled under her breath, but knew they were right. Still, she didn't like to be humiliated.

"We'll start right away," Charlie decided, moving over to Max and beginning to forcefully position her arms and legs. She didn't resist, but definitely pouted. "Alright, now move like this," he said, taking his own position and demonstrating. Max clumsily followed along. "No, no, like this. Otherwise, I can easily go and do-" he broke himself off, grabbing Max by her wrist and pulling her to the ground, stomach first, with her arm twisted painfully behind her back.

"Ow," she half muttered, half groaned.

And then Wither chose that moment to finish with ridding of the Mods, appearing on the edge of the platform with murder in His eyes at the sight of what looked like Max being attacked by her own father.

* * *

 **Oh, I'm so evil. Taking forever to update, not providing any excitement on the Mods, and then giving you another cliffhanger? Yup, worst person, right here. I just really wanted to post before two forevers passed, so here it is! I'll try to update sooner next time, promise!**

AlliyahTheAuthor:

 **Pfft, sorry, guess I disappointed you on that.**

 **Got it. You vote for shorter, more often chapters.**

 **It's practically impossible for something in a diaper to be creepy. Unless it's a demon baby doll. That would be terrifying.**

 **Your waiting has ended! Ish. Not really, because now you unfortunately must wait again.**

hope. rose. dawnstar/Dawnstar:

 **But I'm bad at making decisions! D:**

NotReallyAName:

 **And your vote is long chapters. Wow, this voting thing really isn't working out so far. XD**

 **Good! Just don't tell It that. I think life for Max, Wither, and Charlie would become much harder if All knew that those things were funny.**

 **That is true. Charlie isn't the easiest to get to know person for Max to deal with. AND APPARENTLY THEY WERE JUST THERE TO ENTERTAIN WITHER AND ALL FOR NO REASON.**

 **Things will be getting more plotty, eventually. And hopefully I'll be able to keep the humour even with the action things!**

* * *

 **Voting results:**

 **Longer, less updated chapters:** 1.

 **Whichever is easier:** 1.

 **Shorter, more often updated chapters:** 1.


	4. Pressure

Wither stormed over to Max and Charlie, a dark pressure bubbling within Him. It was something He had never felt before; an unknown urge to do something that materialized behind His eyes, like a headache, but... more. It was something He had no clue how to identify. He did know that He was angry, though. He was so very, very angry. Charlie had been attacking His best friend, keeping her to the ground, and that made Him mad.

Charlie swiftly pulled Max to her feet, shoving her behind him. Wither glared murderously at Charlie, furious that- Wait. That was it. That was what His great urge was. He wanted to murder Charlie. The pressure intensified, aching as it spread through the rest of His head, seeming to answer to His realization of His wish to cause such harm to the Minecrafter who dared touch Max.

Wither ran at them, enraged that Max looked at all frightened, furious that Charlie had caused her to look so. Because it had to have been Charlie who caused that look. Max knew Wither would never hurt her. Max knew.

He slammed into the male Minecrafter as Max gave a startled cry, being pushed again to the ground by being too close to Charlie when Wither attacked him. Then, Wither got smacked in the face with something hard and he went reeling, startled by the impact. He spotted the wooden sword just as it was coming for another blow, not having enough time to scoff at how foolish a weapon that was. Wood was the weakest material for tools; it made no sense for Charlie to use it to defend himself. The sword went flying when Wither snatched it from Charlie's hands, tossing it off to the side as He lunged forwards to attack again.

The sound of Max yelling caught Wither's attention, and so Charlie was able to dodge, Wither's hands grasping at air instead of flesh. Max sounded odd, like she was thousands of blocks away instead of a mere seven. Wither couldn't make out what she was saying, even though it should've been the simplest thing. She looked afraid- terrified, more like it, and that made Wither's rage grow. How dare Charlie cause Max to grow even more afraid. How _dare_ he _._ He turned on Charlie again, ignoring the iron sword the Minecrafter now held and was swinging at Him. There was something Wither was forgetting; something that was a large part of himself, but He didn't know what it was. The pressure was covering up anything unimportant to this moment, becoming almost unbearable in its intensity. Anything that could distract from killing was gone, lost in confusing fuzz that was his mind.

His prey looked familiar, but He couldn't figure out why. He didn't much care about that, though. He just wanted to add its blood to the rest of the multicoloured liquids that now covered him from some earlier activity. The pressure lightened in one area of His head, letting Him access a memory that told him it was blood. Multicoloured blood. He assumed He'd been killing before He found this new thing to slaughter. This didn't sooth the eager feeling He was filled with, though. He wanted more than anything to murder the one in front of Him, to entertain Himself or to ease the drowning, He didn't know. Because He was drowning. He was drowning in the blood lust and He needed to breathe but He couldn't because there was no air but there could be air if only He could just kill. To live He needed to kill kill kill kill _kill._

The prey gave a startled cry when He snatched its arm, yanking it towards him. There was yelling off to the side, but He didn't care to spare whatever it was a glance. He was almost there.

He threw away the pointy white metal thing that the prey was using as a weapon, uncaring when it caused His hand to bleed. The pain was somewhat grounding, though, letting Wither remember that something existed beyond the urges and fog in his head, but then He was pulled in again.

He stalked forwards, a horrid grin marring His face. The prey scrambled back, frightened by Him, and He felt his grin grow wider. Something tugged on His arm and He growled in irritation, lashing out at whatever it was as He turned to face it. A prey-shaped thing stood there, appearing fairly surprised, though He wasn't sure why. It was holding its arm where He had struck it, blood welling up from the slight scratches His nails had caused. He watched the blood trail down its arm, frozen from some unknown emotion.

He took a step forwards to do- He wasn't sure. To kill? To help? Both emotions warred inside Him, but He smacked into something before He could reach it, leaping back in surprise. He snarled angrily, pushing at the thing He could not see. The urge to kill now overruled any wish to fix what wounds had been caused. His prey was right there. Right there and He couldn't reach it. He tried to circle around whatever invisible barrier held Him back, smacking into another invisible thing for His troubles. He felt himself grow agitated as the pressure grew within Him, thumping like a heart beat throughout His entire body. .

Turning, He attempted to find a way that wasn't blocked by an invisible barrier, which He soon found that to be impossible. He tried scrambling up the barrier to escape, but there were no holds. The constant pressure receded just enough to remind Him, like how He had remembered himself momentarily, but now He remembered things instead of His identity. Things that He could do but normal people couldn't. Magic-power things. He tried to teleport outside the barrier, not entirely sure how He did so, and succeeded. He grinned triumphantly until He was teleported back to the invisible cage. He tried again and again, but got the same result each time, no matter where He tried to go. Then, He attempted flying up to go over the barriers, but slammed into another one a few blocks up. He snarled in anger, dropping to the ground again to slam countless times against the wall, desperately trying to reach His prey that shouldn't still be alive. _Neither_ of them should be alive.

The prey he had first been attacking - male, perhaps - now stood and made his way to the female, which was the one he had scratched, even as He scrabbled at the invisible thing to try and get at them, snarling. The male spoke nervously to the other and the female scowled at him, saying something back. They sounded too far away for Him to make out what they were saying, but He didn't care, anyway.

The female said something else, turning to Him. He slammed his hands against the barrier over and over, doing His best to break through to get to the prey that was ow approaching. She looked sad, and frightened, and confused, gently putting a hand up against the barrier as He smacked it again. He ceased His attack on the invisible barrier, glaring at her furiously. She said something, quiet enough that He wouldn't have been able to hear even if she didn't sound so far away. The world began to grow darker, which frightened Him, causing Him to start trying to break free from his cage once again. His movements began to slow and His breathing turned heavy. The pressure was much worse than it had been before, letting Him know that He _needed_ to kill the female, and the urge was so overwhelming that it felt like there wasn't enough air anywhere and He didn't want to stop moving. But He did, resting his arms against the barrier as He panted for breath, sliding down the invisible wall when He felt His knees weaken.

He clawed at the wall of the unseen cage as he went down, making one last effort to escape even as his eyes slid shut and unconsciousness overtook him.

* * *

 **Feel free to throw things at me for taking a while, _again._ So sorry about that, but life is evil and electronic time is growing sparse. Anyway, here's a question for you people:**

 **What's going on with Wither?**

 **I know, but I want to see whether or not you guys can figure it out. Just curious.**

DarkWolf133:

 **Thanks! ^^ Evil All really is fun, isn't It?**


	5. Care

Max watched Wither's chest raise and fall with His breathing, ignoring Charlie when he tried to get her attention.

"Max?"

There was definitely something wrong with Him, but she didn't know what.

 _ **Max.**_

He had never hurt her, before. Nether, He'd probably rip out the throat of whoever has even threatened her if she let Him.

 **Max.**

She needed to figure out what was going on, and she needed to fix it.

 _Keep ignoring us, Max. This isn't as entertaining as when My dearest son was trying to murder your fool of a father, but this is still fun._

"Shut up!" Max snapped at the air.

 _Awwww, why am I the one that got you to listen? Is it because I mentioned My youngest going insane and trying to-_

" _Shut up!"_ Max snapped again.

 _Ahh, so that is it. Interesting. _

All and Charlie let her stew in silence for a few minutes more, then, "What's wrong with him?" she asked quietly.

 _Haven't a clue, Miss Cheerful.  
 **I'm sorry, Max, but Charlie panicked when I pulled him through**_ **_time.  
_** _He ripped and he tore and he stole whatever he could get at. It was wonderful. Maybe if I could get more empty spaces in need of being filled, everything will break... hmm..._

"Killing Yourself would destroy the things I need to live, and so you'd be killing me, All," Max muttered to It to stop Its current train of suicidal thought. It was a trick she learned when she was fifteen and All had been more evil and suicidal than otherwise. The universe gave a great sigh in Max's head, which she ignored. She broke her gaze away from Wither's unconscious form to look at Charlie, who was looking back at her with clear concern, and her words died on her lips, surprise causing them to fade away. The only person who had ever been concerned about her well-being was Wither. Quirk would worry if he knew there was something wrong, but he wasn't that perceptive and Max rarely saw him. All also cared, but Max was too irritated with It most of the time, even when it did use Its Minecrafter form to speak with her. Plus, It didn't really count as a person. So really, Max couldn't say she saw many people being worried about her.

But Charlie was concerned about her.

Why, though? Max herself wasn't hurt, even if she was upset, so why was Charlie worried? No one worried over her when someone else was hurt, not even if she was sad or such. So why...?

After a moment more of watching Charlie watch her, Max frowned uneasily. There must have been something she missed. She glanced around, her frown deepening when she spotted nothing. Looking down at herself, she didn't see any wounds that were being forgotten. She looked back at her father. "What's wrong?"

He didn't answer- not in the way she expected, at least. "Are you alright?"

Max blinked at him in confusion. "Yes...? I'm not bleeding, but I may have a bruise later from falling."

Charlie huffed and shook his head. "No, Max. Are you alright?" Max didn't answer, staring at him bemusedly. He ran a hand over his face in exasperation. "Do I really need to explain this to you?" When Max didn't answer, he sighed hollowly, as though Max not knowing what he was talking about was actually something he was upset about more then basic annoyance. "You just watched your friend, possibly best friend, attack both of us and act completely insane. You honestly can't tell me you're okay with that."

She frowned at him. "Of course I'm not."

"And...?"

"And what?"

"Are you okay?" he repeated himself, confusing and irritating Max further, while it just seemed to make him more sad.

"I just told you I am. One little bruise is the extent of my injuries."

"No, Max. _Feelings._ Are you alright emotionally and need comfort, or going to have a panic attack, or need alone time to calm down? I don't- I don't know you well enough yet to tell." Okay, yep. Charlie definitely sounded at least a little bit depressed about not knowing Max well enough to tell her emotional well-being, which Max didn't even know was possible for normal Minecrafters. Maybe it was like a parent thing? She didn't know. Did parents actually talk to kids about feelings? Was that an actual parent thing, or a Charlie thing? Max was fairly sure it was at least slightly sad she was asking herself those questions.

"Eh- I...don't know?" Max replied, so bewildered at this situation. She couldn't remember the last time someone asked her about how she was feeling- maybe All had been the one to ask? She had no clue how to reply.

 _Ya' know, as fascinating as dear Charles' depression is, keeping Wither unconscious for long periods of time will probably mess Him up even worse. You should take Him to the pansy's castle.  
_ **You're just jealous that the one with morals is the only one that turned out right.  
** _Nope! In fact, the wimp being the one that turned out right will make this all so much more interesting._

"What?" Max didn't get long to become even more confused that the _evil_ All was caring about Wither before It started bickering with Itself.

 ** _Oh? How is that?  
_** _Shhh, it's a secret.  
_ **We're all the same being! How are You keeping a secret? That makes no sense.  
** _Perks of being the best.  
_ **The best?! Lies! You're a back-stabbing, lying, insane-  
** _-Suicidal, barbaric, depressed, cowardly piece of nothing. Yes, I've heard that insult before. C'mon, come up with something original once in a lifetime! It's been boring since the ruined one made the Nether! Honestly, can you get any less creative? You're worse than the other_ _screw-up!_  
 **You're comparing me to Her?! Fine, of you want creative, I'll show you creative-  
 _Shut up! I'm getting a headache, and I don't even have a head!  
_** _Whine, whine, whine. Such a baby._

And off It went, giving Max no chance to question anything All had said as It began to truly argue with Itself. Again. Honestly, how had she survived so long with that in her ears almost every second of the day? But now It seemed to be arguing about Its children, which made Max even less happy. All wasn't very fond of Its kids, so almost always insulted at least one in some way, and hearing so many insults in a single sentence tended to grate on her nerves.

She looked to Charlie, wincing at both her own headache that was coming on from All's arguing, and the look on his face that had appeared after hearing her answer his question. "I'm, uh, I'm going to go grab some horses from the plains," she told him awkwardly. "If Wither starts waking up, just yell really loudly at All. That should get It's attention. All, if you hear him yelling, make sure Wither's secured," Max said, already walking away and ignoring the protests that Charlie gave, saying that it was too dangerous for Max to go, even though she had the literal Universe trying to keep her alive.

Max leapt over the edge of the platform that held her home, grabbing a vine as she passed it. She clung to it, hand wrapped tightly around the plant and her other arm hooked around it to help make sure she wouldn't slip. Her only hand was fairly strong, but it never hurt to be careful. She glanced over at her father, up over on the platform, yelling at her about jumping from dangerous heights. Max didn't see what the big deal was; this was the fastest way down. Ignoring him, she loosened her hold on the vine, beginning to slide down, towards the ground.

There were still signs of the slaughter from earlier, blood and body parts covering the area, causing Max to make a face of disgust. She should've made Wither clean up after making such a mess, that probably would've prevented this whole situation, too. Well, okay, maybe not, but there was still the chance it could have stalled Him. She began to make her way towards where she knew the plains were, All's bickering in her ears and blood on her shoes.

* * *

 **Bam! Next chapter! :D I'm already working on the next chapter, but of course that may not mean that it's going to be up soon. I just kinda work on chapters whenever I think about it, heh.**

 **What do you think's the weirdest thing about this series? I think the weirdest thing is that I'm able to randomly add details and have them all contribute something important-ish, later. XD**

AlliyahTheAuthor:

 **XD I'm glad that it's heartbreaking, as long as it's the entertaining kind and not the "this was so cool before but now it sucks whyyy" kind.**

 **You may or may not be right, you'll just have to see, but props for remembering the balance-y thing. I honestly thought almost everyone forgot about it.**

 **Whew, thanks for understanding the updating thing. Updating really is hard when words aren't attacking any brains.**


	6. His Life

Charlie stared, dumbfounded, as Max and her steed of choice trotted up to the jungle tree that the girl's home was situated on. He had been sitting near the edge of the platform, as far from Wither as he could get, and had kept an eye out for his daughter.

His _twenty one_ year old daughter. He still found it difficult to believe that Max - the angry, adult Minecrafter that chatted with and yelled at Gods, literally had moments where she hated the Universe because she could hear It in her head, and was so disconnected from other people that it was unusual for someone to ask how she was doing emotionally - had been the light bump in Ember's stomach that would always make him beam at the mere sight of.

And Ember... Ember was dead and Max didn't care, which meant it had probably happened when Max was very young. The rest of Charlie's family were dead, too, if Max didn't know them. Oh yeah, and Charlie's older brother was about to die. The older brother that failed at taking care of the people Charlie loved.

Not to mention the fact that the Sleeping- _Ender_ , Charlie reminded himself. He didn't need to call Her that, now. Especially since Ender was no longer sleeping. She was dead. The most dead anyone could be. Max had said she'd been erased or removed or whatever, and like that wasn't a lot to think about, too.

Charlie's family had been watching over the Goddess to make sure she'd never wake, and he, the actual born Caretaker, had missed Her awakening, and had been unable to do what he'd been trained for since birth. To keep Her contained long enough for the Two to put Her back into Her coma. But, no. Instead, Ember had been there and so had Max, and Ender had escaped and murdered so many people and- Charlie couldn't help but feel guilty over it, even if it weren't his fault. He had been dragged through time by the Universe in order to fill some sort of emptiness, so it wasn't his fault he wasn't there. But the guilt still lingered heavily over him like a black shroud.

It was all really a lot to process, and now Max's best (likely only) friend had gone insane. So... yeah. Charlie had no idea what he was doing nor what the Nether was going on most of the time. And after all this, he supposed nothing should really surprise him anymore.

But, of course, he was surprised by Max returning with a horse that had _wings_ and had decided it didn't like the ground so was _flying_. Because this was his life, now.

That didn't mean he couldn't freak out a little when Max and the horse landed on the wooden platform that Max had built her house on.

"What."

Max ignored his deadpan word, leading the horse carefully over to where Wither was still sleeping.

"Max!" Charlie said to catch her attention, the again more sharply when she ignored him. The girl- _woman_ looked over at him, obviously puzzled as to why he had called her. "You can't just ignore people when they're talking to you, Max. It's rude."

Max blinked at him, said "So?" and hopped off the horse.

It was things like this that made Charlie's heart ache. The fact that Max had apparently never bothered to learn why being rude wasn't always a good idea showed how little caring Minecrafter contact she'd had. It was his fault, but it wasn't.

His daughter muttered something under her breath, which Charlie was grateful for. While it had been a huge relief to learn that Max wasn't completely crazy and just had the literal voices of the Universe in her head, it was still a bit off-putting for her to randomly just say something loudly when no one else had spoken.

"Being rude to people isn't nice, Max. No one will want to talk to you, let alone help you if you're rude," he scolded. Really, he just wanted her to be a bit nicer so she could make some friends that weren't immortal. Was that too much to ask?

"Good," Max answered, leaning down to grab Wither and try to pull him onto the horse using her one hand. "They don't like me, I don't like them. I don't want, nor need, their help for anything. I'm not weak," she bit out. And here came the aching heart, again. It hurt him that she acted as though if she didn't prove she weren't weak, he'd come after her, or abandon her.

When she accidentally dropped Wither yet again, Charlie walked over to help, hefting the God onto the winged-horse's back. "Even the strong need help sometimes, Max," he told her, gently touching a hand to her shoulder. She flinched in surprise, apparently unused to physical contact, but didn't shrug his hand off. If Charlie ever met whoever had made his baby girl's life so miserable, he was going to show them how terrifying a trained Caretaker could be.

"If they need help, they're no longer considered strong," she told him determinedly.

"Are the Gods strong?"

"...Yes." She had hesitated on that word, seeming to have needed a moment to consider her answer.

"Then why do Caretakers exist?"

Max looked like she didn't know how to answer that, opening her mouth to reply and then closing it again.

"What about All? Is It strong?"

"Yeah. Mostly."

"Then why do you exist?"

Again, Max didn't know how to answer. Charlie gave her a pat on the shoulder, then let her go. "Needing help doesn't make you weak, Max. Nor does asking for it. Everyone needs help at least once in their life," he told her.

He turned away to let her digest what he'd said, feeling both happy and sad he'd been able to tell her that. Happy he could still be her parent, but sad that he'd needed to tell her such a thing at all.

Charlie clambered onto the back of the winged horse, settling Wither in so it'd be even more unlikely that He'd fall. He pointedly didn't look at his daughter, leaning forwards slightly and patting the winged-horse's flank while he waited. He was seated at the back of the horse with Wither in the middle and room in the front for Max to steer. He would've been sitting in the front had he not been so worried about Wither waking up and trying to kill Max, and he didn't want Max in any position she could fall from the steed. That put him, unfortunately, in the back.

Max climbed on a few minutes later, quiet as she nudged the horse towards the edge of the platform. The creature spread its wings (causing Charlie to have to adjust Wither so the God's face wouldn't interrupt any important flapping that would keep them all from falling to their deaths) and leapt off the platform.

Charlie gave a startled yelp, clinging to the back of Max's shirt for dear life. Riding a winged-horse as it jumps off a whatever-number-it-was-probably-huge block high tree fort is fairly terrifying. Who knew.

Max gave a laugh at his reaction, cheered from her previous somber mood. Or maybe she was just pretending it didn't happen so she could think about it later. Charlie wished he knew her well enough to tell. He honestly kind of despised the Universe for taking him from his family before Max had even been born. And then It had flooded Max's mind with unwelcome words since she was fourteen, according to her.

He shook that thought out of his head. He was feeling pretty mentally whiny ever since Max had headed off to find the odd creature that was currently climbing in altitude. Oh, look. That's a cloud. They were flying in the clouds. They were going to die.

The Minecrafter tightened his fists in Max's shirt to keep her from falling off, even if there likely wasn't any chance of her doing so. Charlie couldn't currently see her face, but she seemed pretty at ease- amused, even, by something she was thinking. Or maybe it was the invader in her head that was amusing her. Impossibly, his hands tightened even more, this time in anger.

He closed his eyes and ignored the fact that they were literally flying through the clouds, wondering why he was all these emotions and thoughts were being had. It didn't make much sense. Why choose now to actually pay attention to his problems? He'd been doing pretty well just ignoring them to keep from having a panic attack.

Max whooped in excitement as the freaking flying horse suddenly dove, chasing all confusing thoughts from Charlie's head. Daughter laughed, father yelped, grey God snored, winged horse pulled up just before they all smashed into a lake.

Their momentum caused water to spray up behind them as they passed through the air. Charlie, all the way in the back, of course, got his back wet. Which was very uncomfortable, and got worse as they swooped back into the air to avoid a bunch of trees. Great. Cold. Charlie did not like cold. It had been cold when he- what? time traveled? Yeah, that seemed like the proper word. It had been chilly the day he disappeared when Ember had still been pregnant with Max, and he had been found by Max in a snow biome.

So, yeah. Charlie didn't like the cold.

* * *

 **Augh, I'm not good at updating. I am the most fail of all failures. All hail the ruler of the failures who- oh wait no they failed at ruling so was kicked out of failure country. :I**

 **Anyways, this chapter was supposed to be longer, since not much happened at all (but hey, Charlie's pov!), but it sat there for so long with just a few sentences left, and my motivation died. Beat, burned, and buried. Unfortunately, that means this chapter was only 1,662 words instead of 2000 which would've been awesome. Especially since this chapter was mostly a boring little recap from Charlie's perspective. I'll try to do better next time, I promise!**

 **Question for the chapter: If you were Charlie, how do you think you'd react?**

AlliyahTheAuthor:

 **As answer to that random question: a flying horse, apparently. XD A random question deserves a random answer.**

 **:D Glad to know that it's one of those things you try to remember. The Scales are pretty much the whole reason the story exists (along with other things, muahaha), so it's good to remember them. ^^**

 **We are? That was fast(-ish slow). Wow.**


	7. Embarrasment

Finally, finally, they landed next to Notch's castle. Charlie scrambled to get off the winged horse, barely resisting the urge to kiss the ground. Never again would he travel by flying animal. Never. Again.

Max wasn't as relieved as her father to be on the ground again, more anxious than anything. At least, Charlie thought she looked anxious. Not for the first time -and probably not the last- he wished that he knew her better.

Max made to pull Wither's still-unconscious body from the horse, but Charlie beat her to Him.

"Don't," Charlie told her, holding up a hand to keep her from moving. "Do you really want to drag Him all the way into the castle?"

Max glanced at said castle, scowling. While they were indeed right next to it, the entrance was still a short ways off. It'd be a pain to drag the gray God all the way when they had a perfectly good flying horse right there. As long as it didn't actually fly. Please, Notch, do not make the horse fly away with Wither still on its back. Charlie was in no mood to chase after a runaway that could fly. He'd rather die.

Charlie grabbed the horse's mane, leading it towards the entrance with Max trailing sullenly behind. Charlie was fairly certain she was pouting, likely about not having thought of leaving Wither on the horse. Or maybe she was pouting at what that thing inside her head was saying? Charlie hoped he'd be able to tell better as time went on.

The small group grew closer to the castle doors, which were standing wide open to allow passage for the multiple people strolling in and out. Charlie noted with irritation and unease that many of these people glared or scowled at them after a few double takes at the sight of the winged horse and unconscious God. Others just ignored them entirely, but with Wither and the horse, those people were very few.

When Charlie scowled at them, most scowled back, irritating him more. Didn't they know who he was? They certainly knew who Max was, though, glaring more at her than him. Which was ridiculous because (1. Max had helped them win whatever baby battle had been fought, and (2. Max wasn't doing anything to hurt them at that moment. Charlie might hurt them if they kept staring, though. Sadly, they were interrupted, saving those insufferable people from harm.

"What are you- what."

Charlie whirled towards the noise, sword immediately in his hand and pointed at the throat of...Notch...

He dropped the item in surprise, staring at Notch with his mouth gaping open. It only took a second for him to gain his bearings, however, falling to his knees in a kneel. "My lord," he said respectfully (though perhaps it had been more of a squeak), his face burning with embarrassment. Did that really just happen? He just pointed a flippin' sword at _Notch_ , one of the first Gods, in his own castle! This was so embarrassing and- and such a _rookie_ mistake! He just hoped the God wasn't mad. He also hoped that if He _was_ mad, that He wouldn't turn Charlie into a flowerpot. The Gods had always been more lenient with the Caretaker family, but it was still a worry.

To Charlie's relief, Notch didn't seem mad at all. He laughed and Charlie could hear Max joining in, both of them amused by his mistake, only embarrassing him more. Charlie peered up to get a sneaky glance around, to make sure they were the only ones to have witnessed the mishap, and felt his face burn even more. Wonderful. People had been drawn by the sound of their God's laughter, some laughing too, and others, not having seen what he did, just watching curiously.

Charlie ducked his head again, despite his wish to stand and- no, not flee. Caretakers never fled, but he dearly wanted to do something about the audience, and maybe break a few arms in the process.

Thankfully, another God decided to take pity on him.

"What's going on, here?" a new voice asked, Charlie glanced up quickly again, relieved to see it was the other one of the Two. Herobrine scowled at everyone, waving a hand and teleporting the small group somewhere else, away from the crowd. A reasonably sized stone chamber, Charlie was pleased to note. Not so small as to make fighting difficult, though not too big to be so noticeable if someone were to look for it.

The forgotten God then turned His displeased expression towards His brother. Notch merely shrugged sheepishly in answer to a silent question, and Herobrine huffed in Charlie's direction, "You may now stand, Caretaker."

"Thank you, my lord," Charlie said, and did so quickly, shooting Max an annoyed look for her expression of mirth. Apparently this had all cheered her up from her sulk, which Charlie would have been fine with, if he wasn't the one she was amused at. Seriously. It wasn't funny, okay. Charlie got tense around hostile people. Notch shouldn't be such a sneaky ninja and sneak up on him like that. Rude, much.

(Okay, maybe or maybe not Charlie was still a little shaken up from everything and was trying to use sarcasm to hide. He'd admit nothing.)

Outside Charlie's little huff-fest, the Gods were arguing, as the brothers usually did when They disagreed on any small thing.

"Brother, we talked about this. It's rude to laugh at the family that's helped us so," Herobrine was scolding. So Notch had laughed at Max before? Why hadn't Charlie been informed about this?

Notch was taking the lecture in stride. "And? He's so jumpy that he pointed a sword at me, Herobrine. Am I not allowed to laugh at such a thing?"

"He has all the right to be jumpy, after what our dearest parent did to him," Herobrine pointed out- and what the Nether did Herobrine just roll His eyes how is that possible. He had no pupils! Why is He rolling His eyes!

And then Charlie spotted Max rolling her own eyes, so maybe it was a learned habit.

Charlie wished he were back home, where his wife bossed him around and all he truly had to worry about was whether or not he could stall an Evil (with a capital E) Goddess in the event of her waking. Those were the good ol' days.

Notch opened His mouth to respond to His brother when Max decided to cut in. "Yes, yes. Wonderful, no one loves family drama more than I do, I _assure_ you," she rolled her eyes again. "But there's this thing going on with your youngest family member that's even more dramatic so _shut up and look at Him,"_ she ordered sharply. Charlie gave her a look that she ignored. He glanced anxiously towards the Two, hoping the Gods would not take disrespect from her tone.

To his bewilderment and relief (there was a lot of that going around today), the Two seemed to ignore Max's rudeness, instead pausing to look at the flying horse that Charlie was still not happy with.

"Is that a winged horse."

That didn't really sound like Herobrine was asking a question, so Charlie didn't decide to point out the obvious and say that it was.

Max, however, didn't sound as though she cared. "Yes, yes it is. Look at the pretty pony later, tell me what's wrong with Wither _now."_

Notch sent her a reproachful look, while Charlie gave her an all-out glare. What was she thinking?! She was going to get them killed!

"You haven't really explained why you think there's something wrong with Him, Akroatis," Herobrine reminded her.

Max scowled at the white-eyed one. "He went crazy after He saw... Charlie teaching me how to fight without Kreaya. He attacked us, and All had to do that to keep us from getting hurt," she gestured to the still-sleeping Wither.

"Hmm," Notch murmured, sharing a look with His brother. "We'll see what we can do. If you'll excuse us." And then the world blinked and Charlie was in a new room- still stone, but furnished as a luxurious bedroom with a door over to the side. Max was standing next to him, but it was just them two. No one of the Two, Wither, nor terrible flying horse in sight.

Charlie saw Max's face begin to adapt one of anger, but it quickly turned to surprise when he whirled on her. "What the Nether were you thinking?!" he demanded harshly.

"Wh-" she started, but he cut her off. Now that the Gods weren't there, he could scold her freely. Which was wonderful, because he really wasn't in the best mood.

He didn't let her finish, taking an angry step towards her. "No, I don't think you were thinking at all. Because no one other than a brain-dead idiot would lip off to a _God_ like that!" he snapped.

Max looked hurt and startled by his words, as though she didn't really know why he was yelling at her. "I-"

"Do you realize what could have happened?" he growled. "Do you know what they're capable of doing? No matter what you think of them, you _do not_ lip off at them! You could have gotten us killed, you idiot child!"

Max shoved him away from her, surprise being replaced by her own anger. "What the Nether, Charlie?!" she snapped. "What are you talking about!?"

He snarled at her, "What do you think? Disrespecting the Gods is something that can get you killed! I'd tell you to ask my uncle, but woops, the Forgotten turned him into a flowerpot!"

Again, Max's anger was replaced by surprise. "What? Herobrine wouldn't-"

"Don't forget who they are, Max," Charlie said darkly. "Notch is unlikely to hurt you, but the Forgotten doesn't have good feelings towards our kind, no matter what you seem to think. The only God that's ever been meant as good has been Notch. Don't forget that again." With that, Charlie stormed towards and out the door, leaving his stunned daughter behind him. He needed to cool off, to get this weird and terrifying future to make sense in his head, and he wouldn't be able to do so with Max being a fool.

* * *

 **My excuse is the entirety of 2016 :p This is probably the last chapter this year unless I become magic, so happy new year!  
**

 **Question for this chapter: How was your Christmas?**

AlliyahTheAuthor:

 **xD It really is a great coincidence.**

 **I feel so bad for him, and yet it's too fun to mess with him, honestly, the poor guy.**

 **:D**

 **Daw, that's so nice of you to say! You made me smile so much with that :D**


End file.
